Colombia, here we come! (Bogota)

After 3 weeks of good times and plenty of tacos in Mexico, we made our way to Colombia, of which we had heard plenty of good things from other travelers.

We started off with Bogota, and the first impression came as a physical shock: it’s freezing cold! Bogota is in the middle of the mountains but we hadn’t even thought about it. So we put on our hats and jackets, and instead of fresh juice that we used to get on the street we now got some warm fruit tea (first reflex in those situations: tell them to put less sugar!).

We got ourselves a little homey hostel in La Candelaria, the historical, touristy part of Bogota, seemingly a bit safer than other quarters that some Colombian friends told us to avoid. Our host, a lady in her 70s, spent over half an hour giving us a lecture on “how to not get into fights when other guys try to charm Rebekka”. With those instructions in mind, we walked around town, admiring the street art, the architecture… and the hundreds of pigeons on the main square.

We also paid a visit to the Botero Museum and the Museum of Gold. Both had very interesting pieces of art, some with exaggerated proportions, some refined (we let you guess which one the photos are of)!

Foodwise, we sampled the signature dish of Bogota: Aijaco – a hearty potato and chicken soup that usually comes with plenty of garnitures (like delicious capers!), but our expectations were too high it seems, because all we got was a sad bowl of thick yellow broth that didn’t look that appetizing (taste was ok)…

Expectation vs. reality

Expectations…

…reality.

Well, we could make up for it with some street snacks: grilled corn and plantain chips!